Well, i had to write a review of the field camp, so i decided to pubish it here anyway... for those who are excited about their upcoming field camp, as well as those concerned... hehe.. enjoy...

Field Camp [19 Jan - 24 Jan 2007)

Field camp was presented to me as a camp that resembles the typical US Marines Boot Camp, where recruits would get punished by their Sergeants for every single mistake that they make. The stories told to us mentioned Sergeants forcing recruits to do leopard crawls across the muddiest part of the ground and to build their tents in the wettest mud. These haunted us in the days preceding the actual field camp.

On the day itself, we woke up early to have our “final” breakfast in the cookhouse before returning back to prepare ourselves for our first 6km route march to the field camp site. In no time, we found ourselves lugging our heavy field packs and marching down Tekong Highway en route to the field camp site.

When we finally arrived at the field camp site, we were rudely awakened to the sad fact of the muddy tracks, deep potholes and waterlogged soil that marked the start of field camp. When we finally arrived at the place, we were given a short break before being asked to change to our long 4 and to put on the camouflage cream on our faces. That marked the psychological beginning of our field camp; and it wasn’t very encouraging.

We were then brought to the place where we were to build our bashas and to stay for the next 3 nights. There, my buddy and I pitched the basha with the skills we have learnt prior to the field camp itself and to dig the drainage systems for our bashas as well. For the both of us, and most others as well, it was especially tiring as we have just completed our very first 6km route march in full battle order, and here we are digging drains. Moreover, we were digging in the heat of the long 4 uniform together with the constraints of the LPV. We also had to constantly ensure that we do not swing too much so as not to cause our rifles to swing and hit us while we were digging.

Then we had our first meal, lunch. Because we were all tired and hungry, the combat rations actually tasted great. It was indeed a great relief of all of the work that we have done so far.

Things got better after lunch. We went for Individual Field Craft lectures conducted by the various specialists and officers and were then split into our sections to have our individual hands-on exercises conducted by our section commanders. Soon, it was dinner time and we retired to our bashas after having our powder bath.

For the next three days, we woke up at 0530hrs, had our breakfast and had applied camouflage cream to our faces by 0700hrs. Then, we had the various lectures and practical lessons all the way till lights out.

On the 4^th day, we had to dig our shell-scape; a hole which had to fit ourselves and our field pack. To others, they found digging the shell-scape more tiring than digging the basha drainage. But to me, I found that the reverse is true. For the basha drainage, we had to aim where to hit the ET blade, so as not to damage the groundsheet or the com-scotch; but for the shell-scape, we simply had to hammer down the ET blade into the ground and lift up the soil. Moreover, we dug our shell-scape in a much drier area as compared to the area where we built our bashas. One of the most memorable part of digging the shell-scape was the personal discovery that we were digging in the “shit-hole” of previous batches. What signaled us to that fact was the stench that came from the soil, which was promptly followed by flies that gathered around the freshly-exposed areas of soil. Moreover, the soil was dark-coloured in shapes that resemble the human excrement. The final confirmation came when we identified the tissue paper, as well as the powder that was thrown into the holes to musk the stench. However, we realized that as much as we do not want to sleep inside a “shit-hole”, we do not have much choice either. So, we simply carried on digging (while holding on to our breath as much as possible). And of course, we looked forward to the technical break that will follow after completion of the digging of the shell-scape.

On the 5^th day morning, we headed off from the oil palm plantation to the rubber plantation, where we split into groups of 5 men who will work as a group to be tested on the various skills we learnt during the field camp along a 2km walk. Be it a blessing or not, we got Platoon Sergeant Khairu as our commander. At the end of the day, we counted a total of 5 charges (or Immediate Assault), 4 Artillery Drills, and 3 Danger Crossings, 2 Grenade Drills and 2 Sniper Drills (of which one of them had two casualties). As compared to other groups, we were more worn out due to the excessive activities; but we also had the chance to push ourselves to the limits and to really maximize the experience of firing blanks in the field camp.

This is also the most memorable part of field camp because I really appreciated working together with the four other people (namely Singh, Pravin, Mas and JianYe). Together, we conquered all the difficulties posed to us by one of the fiercest Sergeants around, and we made it through. Moreover, being in difficult times together has bonded us much closer together than when in the company line or elsewhere when we minded our own business and cared less for others. It is only when we were severely worn out at the end of every artillery drill that someone would shout “come on, we’re nearly there!” Even though Singh had to drop out midway, we managed to persevere on as a group, and made it through. It was during the 2km walk with this group of people that I realized that all the mud, the sweat and the punishments from the Sergeants throughout field camp was worth it, for the companionship of these four men around me.

After that, we headed over to the old SISPEC camp site to stay overnight before heading over to another place for our Battle Inoculation Course. For the BIC, we had to leopard crawl and back crawl 80 meters under live rounds and with thunder flash grenades exploding beside us.

That also signaled the end of field camp for us, and we were all thankful for the wonder experience and camaraderie gained that could not have been gained back in the comfort and luxury of the Apache company line.